Canada launches a Prime Minister's National Council on AI

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on 2 October a new Prime Minister's National Council on Artificial Intelligence to give independent, practical advice on Canada's AI transformation. It will advise on how the government's AI for All strategy, launched in June, should evolve, including speeding up adoption, fostering national champions and building sovereign AI infrastructure, and on making AI safer and protecting democracy. Members include Yoshua Bengio and Gillian Hadfield, with Patrick Pichette as an ex officio member. The council will be supported by a small team in the Privy Council Office, while ministers and departments stay accountable for policy decisions. It is an advisory body: Canada still has no general federal AI law.

What it means for business: no new obligations; the council's advice may influence how Canada funds AI adoption and what safety and governance expectations it sets later.